A train passenger allegedly assaulted a ticket examiner on board the maiden air-conditioned (AC) suburban train service from Virar on Monday, after he was found travelling without a valid ticket.
A non-cognisable offence was registered against the passenger, Bhaskar Jaiswar, under Sections 186 and 504 of the Indian Penal Code, for obstructing a public servant from doing his duty, and intentionally insulting a person to provoke, and Section 138 of the Indian Railway Act for travelling without a ticket.
As the train approached Borivali station, Mr. Jaiswar was seen clicking photos and taking videos in the women’s coach. Ticket examiner Sarojini Deshpande said, “When I asked him to leave the women’s coach, he told me he was a media person. Earlier, he had told me that he was railway staff.”
Ms. Deshpande found his ticket was only from Virar to Vasai and asked him to produce ID to prove he was from the media. “He raised his voice and said I had no right to ask him anything. He asked me to show my ID,” she said. He then tried to snatch her ID from her hands, at which point she called a Railway Protection Force (RPF) officer.
The incident attracted the attention of other railway staff and passengers. Mr. Jaiswar allegedly kept threatening that he would circulate the staff members’ images and videos on WhatsApp, tell his friends in media, and that he knew people in high places. After the train left Bandra, he said would like to leave. “We asked him to pay the fine, and he started shouting that he did not have the money and that the fares were too high,” Ms. Deshpande, who has been a ticket examiner for four years, said.
Railway staff on board the train said that the passenger was constantly clicking their photos, posting them on WhatsApp and recording their conversations with other passengers. One staff member said, “We decided to hand him over to the authorities at Churchgate, but he refused to alight.” On the return journey, Mr. Jaiswar was handed over to the Government Railway Police at Mumbai Central.
